I hate how all the teams have foreign sounding names. Just call yourself the goddamn Pasadena Bobcats or something.
Agree. One of my least favorite things about international soccer is the lack of standardization w/r/t team names, especially how some teams have official nicknames and others don't. What was wrong with the Dallas Burn, for instance? Australian rules football is like this, too, IIRC.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 20:55 (fifteen years ago) link
What was wrong with the Dallas Burn, for instance?
seriously?
― mizzell, Monday, 20 April 2009 20:58 (fifteen years ago) link
i mean i'm a believer that all sports names are silly and that they only become cool with some time and history, but the dallas burn is really pushing it.
― mizzell, Monday, 20 April 2009 21:05 (fifteen years ago) link
I think conceptual names are probably a terrible idea.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:10 (fifteen years ago) link
It's not unique to soccer. Look at the newer NHL franchises, like the Atlanta Thrashers. Are the people of Atlanta known for their thrashing abilities? American sports marketing taken to its logical end. I mean even my favorite team of all time, the Detroit Red Wings, has a comical name but they've been around a long time. In England you've got Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers and all kinds of shit like that, and they've been around for more than a hundred years. What is a Rover? Who cares?
Anyway none of these nicknames are anywhere near as bad-ass as some South American or African teams, like The Strongest or The Indomitable Lions.
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:11 (fifteen years ago) link
The Burn, the Fury -- hell, wasn't Chicago almost called something completely embarrassing?
xp are you KIDDING? How much would you love to be the Indomitable Lions???
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:12 (fifteen years ago) link
For some reason this is reminding me of the Budweiser ad that goofed on "Americanizing" the Premier league and had "Team Manchester" in purple jerseys.
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:15 (fifteen years ago) link
All I'm saying is I like the American formula of LOCATION-NICKNAME. None of this "FC" bullshit -- half the teams emphasize the FC (or SV, AC, etc.) in their official logos, the other half don't. Half of them put it at the front of the team name, half put it at the end. Some are known by their city ("Liverpool FC"), others by their nickname ("Rangers FC"), still others use both (Japan's "Kashima Antlers").
I don't care how stupid "Dallas Burn" sounds, it obeys the rule of LOCATION-NICKNAME. Thirty years ago, I might've looked askance at "Burn" as a singular collective noun, but the Utah Jazz (and later the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat) made that OK.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:45 (fifteen years ago) link
30 years ago you were a newborn baby, you were probably looking askance at lots of things due to lack of ocular control
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:47 (fifteen years ago) link
Don't get me started on sponsorship, although without it, I guess we wouldn't have the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japanese baseball.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:48 (fifteen years ago) link
^^t-bomb
I mostly just hung out on this awesome baby-blue blanket upon which was stitched "Magic Cunningham."
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:50 (fifteen years ago) link
do u seehttp://www.prosportsmemorabilia.com/Images/Product/33-70/33-70457-F.jpg
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 21:54 (fifteen years ago) link
Ideally I like sports team names that have something to do with their locale or its people -- the Dodgers, the old NASL team the (Washington DC) Diplomats, the Seattle Sounders -- or old trade-derived names like the Steelers, the Packers, (the) Arsenal, the Cleveland Stokers, and so on.
With new teams always being created, though, and other teams being moved across the country by new owners, I guess it doesn't pay to have a team to attached to its roots, huh? So much for fan base.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:01 (fifteen years ago) link
I feel like we should be having this discussion on BigSoccer.com.
Clubs names like Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter, Barcelona, Madrid... they're basically just brand names now. Like, I bet not one person on ILX who even tangentially follows the international game would think I was talking about Internacional of Porto Alegre, Brazil instead of Milan, or Atletico Madrid instead of Real Madrid. Their history and marketing power have overtaken the need for any other identification of what they are. Smaller teams in Europe do have the nickname/city or city/nickname combo, like Wisla Krakow, Locomotiv Moscow, etc.
Some MLS team names are good, some are terrible. "The Columbus Crew" makes me laugh almost every time. I'm honestly glad for Dallas that they're not called "Burn" any more, even if it does mean the Brimstone Cup (the supporter's trophy for the winner of the regular season series with the Fire) doesn't really mean quite as much any more.
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:05 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost to Laurel: Yeah, I mean, speaking of Utah Jazz, it's always been this massive joke that the team kept the nickname upon their relocation from New Orleans to one of the states least evocative of jazz in the nation.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:06 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, quite frankly, the wide variety of club names, city identities, nicknames both complimentary and un-, and all other identifying characteristics of teams and their fans just add to the rich tapestry of sport. And to the various ILX rolling threads, most of which I can't make heads of tails of without googling the history of half a dozen Londontown clubs.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:23 (fifteen years ago) link
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, April 20, 2009 4:45 PM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark
are you fucking joking
like srsly dude we're pals but i couldn't disagree with you more on this issue
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:24 (fifteen years ago) link
laurel OTM
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:25 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm all in favor of MLS teams just being NAME OF CITY and they can put FC (or SC) or whatever anymore. let the people pick the nickname instead of a committee
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:25 (fifteen years ago) link
actually, mostly i just have a problem with the NEW YORK RED BULLS and REAL SALT LAKE like are you joking, let's make the american game even more laughable
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:26 (fifteen years ago) link
NYRB is a special, sad case. Nobody wanted that except Red Bull and whatever entity was selling the team.
I mean, I hate DC, NY, Columbus, and the rest but the league is too fragile and small for what harms one team not to harm others.
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:28 (fifteen years ago) link
Ironically, though, while Liverpool may be called Liverpool F.C. officially, to most people they're the Reds or 'Pool or just 'damn scousers'
Real Salt Lake, otoh, just befuddles me. The Royal Football Club of SLC?! Really?!
― Décidément, on ne sait plus faire les miroirs (Michael White), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:30 (fifteen years ago) link
I can't talk about RB, it's too complicated and long and annoying. But if you think the battle for the team name isn't still fought every day by supporters on message boards, go back to college and earn one fucking clue credit.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:31 (fifteen years ago) link
Also, sometime check out these wikipedia entries to learn a bit more about the actions of, and reactions to, the soccer marketing ploys of Red Bull
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Red_Bull_Salzburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SV_Austria_Salzburg
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:31 (fifteen years ago) link
this is sorta what i mean, tho! i mean, i guess america doesn't have a tradition of "athletic clubs" like everywhere else, but i still think it'd be better (in the MLS) to just name the team after the town and let the nickname get chosen by popular opinion. does anyone know: is this how it happened with baseball? like, were the yankees the yankees from the outset, or what?
xp whoah fucking chillout, lady, geez
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:33 (fifteen years ago) link
also don't get me started on the fact that the Crew have a supporters group with the word "Hooligans" IN THE NAME
http://www.kumb.com/gallery/news/hsh.jpg
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:34 (fifteen years ago) link
good luck usa
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:35 (fifteen years ago) link
still bummed that MPLS will never have a MLS team :(
let the people pick the nickname instead of a committee
Lots of times the people do pick the nickname, though. When the Seattle MLS franchise was to be named, the owners initially put forth three names for the public to vote on, none of which were the Sounders, but the public demanded that the Sounders be included and they ended up winning.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:36 (fifteen years ago) link
gbx, the extra heat was for "Don't get me started on sponsorship" which, like, don't get ANYONE started on it, okay? Especially not anyone who cares about the NY/NJ team in the first place.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:37 (fifteen years ago) link
It just isn't going to happen the way it once did, though, gbx. You can call baseball an 'exhibition' until you're blue in the face, it won't chnage the fact that these are all more or less big businesses and with our modern penchant for commdifying everything and squeezing ever cent out of the value of a team and its name, the furure will undoubtedly contain more teams named after sports drinks or stadia named after airlines, etc... Ironically, all those 'organically' determined nicknames in England are for teams that run around adorned in corporate logos many of whome play in a stadium named after a famous sponsor. If anything, it can be argued that w/o the stupid sponsor names and deals, the MLS might have gone the way of prior U.S. soccer leagues.
― Décidément, on ne sait plus faire les miroirs (Michael White), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:38 (fifteen years ago) link
There are plenty of people who don't like the Sounders name, either, and think it should have been left to history and a new name chosen. That was a rare case, though -- I don't think public opinion has been counted for a single other MLS team ever.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:39 (fifteen years ago) link
i need to start following CHI ball more closely. no cable and no soccer-friendly bars make things difficult
also fwiw i think the chicago fire name + logo is one of the best in the business....wish you could still get that chicago flag style jersey
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:39 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm just going to make up my own nicknames for all the teams:the ny boundersthe chicago special catsthe princeton collegiatesthe santa fe davy crockettsthe cleveland soccersn.c. f.c.the washington bullets
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:40 (fifteen years ago) link
also someone should shoot the person/people responsible for the revolution's logo. like, srsly???
xp nick u dummy i do not think davy crockett ever set foot in santa fe
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:40 (fifteen years ago) link
LISTEN I AM MAKING UP THE NICKNAMES HERE
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:41 (fifteen years ago) link
If anything, it can be argued that w/o the stupid sponsor names and deals, the MLS might have gone the way of prior U.S. soccer leagues.
on this note:
The sins of the NASL and how we're still paying for them
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:41 (fifteen years ago) link
That was a rare case, though -- I don't think public opinion has been counted for a single other MLS team ever.
Maybe not for MLS -- I don't follow it -- but this is pretty standard for expansion franchises in other American sports leagues.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:41 (fifteen years ago) link
where was that thread with all the awesome old team names and logos?
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:42 (fifteen years ago) link
and yeah gbx one of the best things about the Fire is the consistency in kit design, badge, and team philosophy as long as the club has been in existence
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:42 (fifteen years ago) link
sorta surprised you know this much about expansion sports franchises, tbh! (not a zing!)
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:42 (fifteen years ago) link
Hahahahaha! Nick, not only do I like all of those, but that's basically what the NASL did, as far as I can tell? See here.
xp see my link!
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:42 (fifteen years ago) link
best NASL team logo
lol nasl
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:43 (fifteen years ago) link
to be fair, the badge is kinda unfuckwithable
what's the portland team gonna be called? the stumps?
― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:43 (fifteen years ago) link
That opens up all kinds of opportunities for supporters' group logos, doesn't it.
― guys i need to eliminate this business associate and im really nervous (Laurel), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:44 (fifteen years ago) link
"washington diplomats" is so awesome
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:46 (fifteen years ago) link
If you really get into it, you realize quickly that MLS is totally unlike basically every other top-level national league in the world. It's single entity, so the players have a contract with the league, not individual teams. This takes away a lot of the bargaining power that players have overseas. Also, not unique to American sports but very unique on the world soccer scene is the salary cap. It goes on and on, like the league not honoring FIFA international dates, no promotion or relegation, etc. It's basically set up not to fail a la NASL, which is the point of the article I posted a minute ago.
xps Portland Timbers, they're just taking the USL-1 franchise and leveling up
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:46 (fifteen years ago) link
gbx, here is a good overview of how baseball franchise nicknames developed.
Also, I think maybe to understand my point of view re standardization you have to realize that I am approaching this in part as the copy editor of an almanac.
― Bianca Jagger (jaymc), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:52 (fifteen years ago) link
I think we get that ;)
― open up a cat of whup-ass (dan m), Monday, 20 April 2009 22:59 (fifteen years ago) link